Banharn’s daughter denies ex-PM’s brainchild aquarium suffering from neglect
Former Chart Thai Pattana Party leader Kanchana Silpa-archa Sunday defended the Bueng Chawak Aquarium in Suphan Buri, the brainchild of her late father, after a viral video clip said the place was now in bad shape.
Kanchan said that Bueng Chawak, which comprises a fresh water fish aquarium and a shark and sea fish aquarium as well as zoo section, was still well taken care of, and not in a degraded condition as suggested by a TikTok user and those who commented on his clips.
A TikTok user, who goes by the name of pipipichy, posted a 17-second clip of a mascot of Bueng Chawak five days ago. His caption said the mascot “had fought a lot to stay alive”.
The clip showed the mascot as an orange clownfish from the animated movie “Finding Nemo”. The mascot looks old and worn-out and its right fin also has a big hole.
The clip was liked over 656,000 times and shared over 2,300 times. It also drew over 1,400 comments.
Many TikTok users said they had visited Bueng Chawak recently and found that the aquarium had become a quiet place with not many tourists and the place looked old and in a degraded condition.
Kanchana, however, insisted that Bueng Chawak was being maintained in good condition by the staff.
She said the aquarium had many new mascots but it had loaned most of them to other places for Children’s Day celebrations.
She said the water was still clear in every glass display of fishes and the landscape of the place was also well maintained.
Kanchana said she was a close observer of Bueng Chawak as she liked to visit animals in the zoo section very often.
“I would like to extend my moral support to all staff of Bueng Chakwak – for the aquarium zone, zoo zone, native vegetable garden zone and resort zone – in line with dad Banharn’s wish to have an educational sight-seeing place for general people with low entry fee,” Kanchana said.
Bueng Chawak Aquarium was the brainchild of former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa, as part of a grand project to commemorate the 50th anniversary of King Rama IX’s reign. Construction began in July 1996.
Entry fee for adults to enter the crocodile and freshwater aquarium is 30 baht and 10 baht for children.
Adults and children are charged 150 baht and 50 baht respectively for entering the sea and shark aquarium. The prices go up to 200 baht for foreign adults and 100 for foreign children.
